Interrupting the metering of fuel to the engine during overrunning for the sake of fuel economy is known. This is done for instance by recognizing engine overrunning, so that subsequently an injection signal for the metering of fuel to the engine can be influenced such that fuel metering is suppressed. At the end of overrunning, this procedure is suspended, so that normal engine operation is possible again thereafter.
However, it has been found that mixture preparation systems of this type cause bucking at the transition from normal operation to the overrun mode in which fuel metering to the engine is interrupted, and this has a perceptible negative effect on the driving behavior of the motor vehicle being driven with such an engine.